Let me be very clear on the economics of President Obama’s address to Congress and budget. He is declaring war on investors, entrepreneurs, small businesses, large corporations, and private-equity and venture-capital funds. That is the meaning of his anti-growth tax-hike proposals, which make absolutely no sense at all — either for this recession or from the standpoint of expanding our economy’s long-run potential to grow.

Raising the marginal tax rate on successful earners, capital, dividends, and all the private funds is a function of Obama’s left-wing social vision, and a repudiation of his economic-recovery statements. Ditto for his sweeping government-planning-and-spending program, which will wind up raising federal outlays as a share of GDP to at least 30 percent, if not more, over the next ten years.

This is nearly double the government-spending low-point reached during the late 1990s by the Gingrich Congress and the Clinton administration. While not quite as high as spending levels in Western Europe, we regrettably will be gaining on this statist-planning approach.

Study after study over the past several decades has shown how countries that spend more produce less, while nations that tax less produce more. Obama is doing it wrong on both counts.

And as far as middle-class tax cuts are concerned, Obama’s cap-and-trade program will be a huge tax increase on all blue-collar workers, including unionized workers. Industrial production is plunging, and new carbon taxes will prevent production from ever recovering. While the country wants more fuel and power, cap-and-trade will deliver less.

Obama’s tax hikes will generate fewer revenues and lower economic growth. Yes, the economy will recover. But Obama’s rosy scenario of 4 percent recovery growth in the out years of his budget is not likely to occur. The combination of easy money from the Fed and below-potential economic growth is a prescription for stagflation. That’s one of the messages of the falling stock market.

Essentially, the Obama economic policies represent a major Democratic party relapse into Great Society social spending and taxing. It is a return to the LBJ/Nixon era, and a move away from the Reagan/Clinton period. House Republicans, fortunately, are 90 days sober, as they are putting up a valiant fight to stop the big-government onslaught and move the GOP back to first principles.

Noteworthy up here on Wall Street, a great many Obama supporters — especially hedge-fund types who voted for “change” — are becoming disillusioned with the performances of Obama and Treasury man Geithner. There is a growing sense of buyer’s remorse. Well then, do conservatives dare say: We told you so?

It's a start. After the election, I wrote about silly conservatives, like Bill Bennett and George Will, who seriously thought Obama would act as a moderating influence on the Dastardly Duo of Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi> They thought that Obama was such a savvy pol that he'd refuse to rush to the left because he knew that it wouldn't work and it'd backfire on him. Nevermind that he was the most liberal Senator and steeped in socialist radicalism his whole life, he would triangulate like Clinton did.

Well, we see how all that worked out. Morons.

Obama is ruling like the fascist despot he is, but the real question is who is going to step up and admit that they were suckered by him? Will Oprah call The One onto the carpet for being a charlatan like that "Million Little Pieces" author she shilled onto the best-sellers chart or will she silently sit in approval as he turns America into Soviet Amerika? (I'm guessing "B".)

"One of the methods used by statists to destroy capitalism consists in establishing controls that tie a given industry hand and foot, making it unable to solve its problems, then declaring that freedom has failed and stronger controls are necessary."

Before the election, I never got around to posting an article about how the radical Left - of which Obama was a foot soldier for and disciple of - declared that for their revolution to happen, the Old Ways would have to be sabotaged and rendered disreputable in order to stampede the sheeple into accepting slavery in the name of salvation.

It was really depressing because it wasn't any crazy conspiracy stuff but an open manifesto of how they planned on taking down freedom and liberty in order to establish their own tyrannical rule. It's not like we couldn't see this coming for the past 40 years. I can't find the bookmark at the moment, but I'll update this post when I do.

Monday, February 23, 2009

• For the first time in I think ever, I've actually seen all five Best Picture and most of the acting nominees BEFORE the Oscar show. That The Wrestler and Dark Knight aren't in the mix while the muddled and mediocre The Reader and glorified TV movie Frost/Nixon are occupying slots is ridiculous.• Also ridiculous is the one-strap gowns all these women are wearing. WTF is Amy Adams wearing around her neck?!? Nice dress, terrible necklace.• I'm wondering who's gonna get more shout outs: God or Obama?• Mickey Rourke has a picture of his dead dog on his necklace. Sean Penn should drop out for this alone.• Hermione is screaming, “No color! No color!”, at the drab bedsheets and neutral colors on parade.• Ugh, Marissa Tomei’s dress is awful. TAKE IT OFF NOW!• Wow. Glitzy crystal curtain. I need to get one of those for the tool shed.• Cute opening number. Craig’s List Dancers! Yummy Girl sings too! Nice dig at The Reader.• Well, after only 12 minutes of high energy fun, they’re already boring us with montages.• Hmmm….not sure if I dig this gang nominee reader thing. Shouldn’t Tilda (and whoever comes next) get the spotlight herself? Jeez, can’t we get some clips instead of the tribute speeches. Awful, simply awful. Funny Whoopi line, but I’d rather see clips. • The only category where there were five solid contenders and some question as to who would win still ended up predictably. Cruz is a fine choice, though I was rooting for Tomei. • Funny skit with Steve Martin and Tina Fey about writing that gives a certain cult a kick in the shins. No surprise at the Milk win and no surprise that a lot of Prop 8 subtext was in the speech. Did he just tip off Federal imposition of gay marriage even though Dear Leader has claimed to be against it? Hmmmm….• Penthouse Cat Dollarnaire gets its first trophy. I wonder if Benjamin Button would’ve been a better choice because it required more spade work to get it on the screen from the source?• Jennifer Anniston looks like she’s been crying. Must’ve been fun for her to have to stand smack dab in front of Brangelina. Say hi to John Mayer, loser.• Who is this Japanese guy with the…did he just say ”Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto”?!?!?!? Where was I? Oh, yeah, the French movie title? I’ll have to track this down cuz Presto was a blast and would’ve been my pick.• OK, I see what they’re doing with the order of categories, so why did they put Best Supporting Actress up first? Shouldn’t all the acting awards be in the middle and the editing, score and special effects awards last?• Quick! Who just won the Art Direction and Costume Oscars that were won a few minutes ago? Can’t remember? Exactly!!!• I don’t think Benji Button should’ve gotten Best Makeup because so much of it is CGI, not traditional makeup. Hellboy II should’ve won.• Nice romance montage.• We’re an hour in and have handed out eight awards.• Ben Stiller channels Joaquin Phoenix and sets up the leading contender for Line of the Night: ”You look like you work at a Hassidic meth lab.”• The inevitability of Penthouse Cat Dollarnaire winning has been sealed with the Cinematography Oscar. Where will the upsets come for the rest of the night? I hear TVs clicking off across America.• Jeez, WTF was that bedsheet Jessica Biel was wearing? When you’ve got the bodacious curves, why would you cover them unless Justin Timbaland is threatening to go all Chris Brown on you if you don’t hide the badonkadonk.• KILLER Judd Apatow short with the Pineapple Express guys and Januz Kaminski. Loved the bit with Franco’s kissing scenes from Milk cutting back to him. (He should’ve been nommed for Milk over Josh Brolin.) 2nd best LotN from Januz: ”Suck on that Andrew Dod Mantle!” Rogen cracks up and Franco munching the winner’s name.• Hermione observes that Jackman’s been MIA while they’ve had comedians presenting most awards.• Now he’s back doing the musical number that no one axed for. At first, when Bouncy came up, I thought that Queen Latifah sure has trimmed down. OK number, but drags the show out.• Alan Arkin gets to announce the winner for the 2nd year in the row as Dora the Explorer opts to not show up for the cattle call. WTF is Seymour Philip Hoffman (sic) wearing on his head. Gee, more Prop 8-bashing from Joel Grey. Bore-ring. Walken’s creeping me out. Not a dry eye in the house as Heath Ledger’s family picks up his trophy. Damn shame he couldn’t have done so himself. A damn crying shame.• Jeez, why didn’t they go to commercial after that moment? To stomp on that poignant moment with the canned Documentary reel was as tone-deaf as an A&R guy.• Oh, jeez, Bill Maher? Every TV not in 212 and 818 just clicked off. Remember when this asstackler was in movies like D.C. Cab and shows like Hard Knocks? Oh, isn’t he cute pimping his Christianity-bashing film? Hey, Big Brave Man, why not speak out for Geert Wilders, you f*cking coward? Funny how you only bash the religions who won’t hack your empty head off. Pussy. • Good action montage. Looks like Angelina Jolie was in half the montage.• Benjamin Button wins Best Visual Effects. Damn right! I smacked down a herd of Comic Book Guys squabbling about Iron Dude vs. Bat Dude over at Gizmodo because while the comic book flicks were fine, BB was something truly extraordinary. • ”Boom goes the dynamite!” Somewhere a college TV sportscaster wishes he’d trademarked the phrase.• Why the snippet of “Mr. Blue Sky”?• Interesting that the Indian sound mixer calls the city Bombay, not the politically correct Mumbai. Hmmmm.• I hope no one has to call for tech support tomorrow because all the folks answering the phones will be hungover and slurring and more unintelligible than usual.• How horrible is this tribute to Jerry Lewis gonna be?• Hey, look, it’s Eddie “I released Norbit in time to blow my Oscar win” Murphy handing out Jerry Lewis’ Jean Hersholt Award. Oh, that’s right, they both did Nutty Professor movies. Jerry looks hella better than the last time I saw him when he was all puffy from steroids when he was going for the home run title. • I figured out why Hoffman Phillip Seymour is wearing the skullcap: he’s playing the Edge in a U2 biopic.• I like the way the stage is set up, though the crystal curtain seems to have gone MIA.• Zac Efron and Alicia Keys – that’s some big-time Hollywood firepower.• I liked Danny Elfman’s Milk score; a nice jazzy change of pace from his usual circus music. • I guess it’s safe for the Benjamin Button crowd to head over to the after-party and the bar since they ain’t gonna be picking up anything.• God just got a mention, so He takes a lead over Obama and Bill Maher has to be stifled from screaming by a beefy Teamster.• Tonight, the part of Peter Gabriel will be played by John Legend backed by the Paul Simon Singers.• With M.I.A. MIA, who are the girls covering for her? Also, what’s with the T-Pain effect on his vocals?• God increases His lead with another mention. Bill Maher has been sedated to prevent him chewing his tongue off.• Queen Latifah was fine, but when, oh when, are they going to do the Death Parade to the dulcet tones of Jim Carroll? Come on! Sydney Pollack and Paul Newman tie for applause.• How many commercials is Jeff Bridges going to be doing the voice-overs on?• Reese “I didn’t deserve my Oscar but I’m not giving it back” Witherspoon is dressed like a hobo. A glitzy hobo, but still a hobo. Was a blue dress not enough, needing the black curtains to be draped over it all?• Danny Boyle gets an Oscar for making a movie with a script that didn’t collapse in the third act. Learn from it, Bub. You still suck for everything you’ve effed-up before though. (*cough*28 Days Later*cough*Sunshine*cough*Trainspotting*cough*Shallow Grave*cough*)• Glitzy lineup for the Best Actress presenters. I still miss the clips from the films; that is what they’re winning for after all. Of the nominees, I’ve seen the fewest of these, having only seen Doubt and The Reader. Of the two, I think Streep was a bit better than Winslet, but Kate’s been due for a while. How about one for Glenn Close now? Great moment with her dad whistling. • Nice that they’ve let the speeches run a little over without cueing the orchestra to stomp on the moments.• I wonder if Robert DeNiro and Ben Kingsley compared notes about how to squander artistic credibility while chasing paychecks? It’s interesting how they’ve sometimes paired former colleagues like DeNiro toasting Penn and Hopkins introing Pitt.• Well, politics trumped performance with Penn’s win. “Commie, homo-loving, sons-of-guns”, is precisely how he won. Now, I know the haters here will think that I’m upset because Penn is a disgusting sack of sh*t who can’t suck tyrannical dictators’ d*cks fast enough and should be torn to shreds by rabid badgers, but that’s not the problem. I watched Milk a few nights ago and was quite impressed by his performance, but the next night I watched The Wrestler and Rourke was simply much better. Take Rourke out and Penn would be OK to win, but instead the Pink Mafia and Prop 8 opponents chose to jerk off their politics first on a night that most of the awards have been justified. That Penn outdumped Maher was a foregone conclusion. Bleah. Hollywood just can’t stick their thumbs in the paying customer’s eyes hard enough, can they?• Slumdog Millionaire, a film that Warner Bros almost dumped straight to DVD, wins Best Picture thus proving William Goldman correct. I think it was a little overrated, but of the nominees, it was my co-favorite.• Overall it was a decent show. Jackman was charming and a lot of the numbers and bits were entertaining. The tributes from previous acting winners simply didn’t work. Lose ‘em and show clips. • Overall score: B+

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Christian Bale's getting a raw deal in the media over his on-set outburst upbraiding a stupid DP who lacked the professionalism it takes to play in the big leagues. EW is trying to make it sound that audiences will abandon him like they did Russell Crowe - they did? - after he threw a cell phone at a hotel clerk. Ummm, not even close, bozos. Crowe physically attacking a civilian is nothing like an actor yelling at some crew jerk. That the morons in the press equate physical and verbal abuse shows how wussy they are. Toughen up, buttercups! Start by losing the John Mayer and Coldplay CDs!

Anyhoo, here's a spokesman for the Bunny Company had to say about the incident:(h/t Hitfix.com)

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

(Note: This was originally posted 12/23/08, but I've changed the time index to bump it to the top so the update is seen.)

I was at Borders tonight picking up Robot Chicken: Season Three and looking at the magazine rack. On the cover of Geek Monthly was a smiling, brunette Janeane Garofalo - no longer sporting the self-loathing fried bleached blonde mop she had - with the headling "Crashing Bush's Party" in conjunction with her upcoming role on the next season of the Jack Bauer Power Hour (aka "24").

In the article, she was spewing the same insane rage-filled garbage she has been since she decided she'd be as offensive as she could be to anyone who dared not goosestep with her BDS samba. The same old "Bush-Cheney cabal" and lies that the show that she isn't too proud to take a paycheck from was an inspiration for Gitmo torture are trotted out for the umpteenth time. Didn't Obama just get elected last month? WTF are they still yammering on about Dubya? Why can't these losers just take their own advice and MOVE THE F*CK ON?!?

As the interview dragged on, she revealed that she was raised in a conservative, religious household and she had accepted what her father told her as the gospel truth until she went to college and was called an "asshole" for daring to voice her opinions. She was so shocked, she basically rejected everything she was raised to believe and became the shrill liberal harpie she is now. Well, there we have it: Daddy issues that would shock Electra and acceptance-craving that destroys any illusions she's actually an iconoclast when she blindly disposes of her family in order to curry favor with the crowd she wants to be part of.

So sad. I just watched "The Truth About Cats & Dogs" a few weeks ago and she was so winsome and cute then; easily the more desirable choice of her and Uma Thurman. I endured the schlocky "The Matchmaker" just because she was in it and I loved her cameo in "The Cable Guy" as the Medieval Times serving wench, but in her off-screen dealings, she's become insufferable and it's too bad because it damages her on-screen effectiveness. When she was cast on "24", a lot of people were outraged that a seething, anti-government malcontent would be sullying the JBPH as a FBI agent(!), but unlike the intolerant Lefties (like her, ironically), I'm going to try and look beyond her rancid politics. (Face it, if I didn't watch any TV/films because the stars were pinheads, I'd be watching nothing and as stupid as he is offscreen, Alec Baldwin kicks ass on "30 Rock".)

When Garofalo started on Air AmeriKKKa, I tuned into her show and after 45 minutes of her tirades, I had to bail before I woofed my cookies. Hearing her sounding upset that our soldiers' improved body armor was resulting in fewer deaths, but more crippling injuries, was just maddening. She was angry that our soldiers weren't dying enough for her taste; the same soldiers who were fighting the Islamofascists who would deny her a career and the ability to spout off freely whatever lunacy that entered her empty head. Just pathetic, but so typical for Hollyweird of today. Power Line had an obit for Van Johnson that explores the anti-military attitudes of Hollyweird that's enlightening, not that Janeane Garofalo has any use for facts that don't keep her in the in-crowd and slapping back against her father. Of course, she doesn't see the irony that conservatives are mostly blacklisted by her fellow travelers in the industry while she takes a job on a show she despises its best qualities of. (i.e. Jack Bauer kicking terrorist ass for his country!)

Final irony? She encourages people to go to Borders to get information. Who knew that Borders was considered the info spot for unhinged Lefties? I mean, other than me, that is? (I've joked with my g/f that she couldn't get a job at Borders because she's too hetero for them. Heh.) While I was in the DVD section, the sales girl was actually recommening "10,000 B.C." to a customer, so that should tell you the level of information Janeane expects you to swallow from her fave bookstore.

What was I doing there since it's such a evil place? Saving 40% on my DVDs, that's what - best price available anywhere. Score! Let the Commies figure out how to make a buck themselves. Heh.

UPDATE & BUMP: 24 is now nine hours into the season and Janeane has been OK, though a lot of liberals at this one forum I post at are bagging on her dour mien. (Maybe they wish she would sabotage Jack in the name of extreme liberals everywhere?) Anyhoo, I saw this interview quoted on Big Hollywood and here's what the typically "open-minded", "diverse" and "tolerant" liberal has to say:

The reason a person is a conservative republican is because something is wrong with them. Again, that’s science – that’s neuroscience. You cannot be well adjusted, open-minded, pluralistic, enlightened and be a republican. It’s counter-intuitive. And they revel in their anti-intellectualism. They revel in their cruelty.

Sarah Palin [is] small-minded and mean-spirited. It has nothing to do with gender — I don’t give a shit about her gender — she is what the Republican Party has become: obstructionist, contrarians, small-minded, all of these things. She just happens to be attractive. There’s definitely something wrong with her. She’s lacking in so many areas. Of course she’s successful with a segment of the country because she represents that lesser segment of the country. It’s people’s lesser nature – their human frailty. You know whatever’s wrong with them is what she is about.

That's right, Janeane; the woman who has raised a family, worked a fishing trawler, and took on the entrenched old boys club of Alaskan politics to rise to the chief executive position of that state is stupid, crazy and a sign of how stupid and crazy you believe the proles of America to be. And who better to tell us than a bitter and rage-filled actress who hasn't been SEEN (she was a voice player in Ratatouille) by any substantial audiences in at least a decade until now on 24? If anyone is narrow and cruel, it's you, babe. That's why you're still single, your joke marriage 16 years ago that you didn't ever dissolve notwithstanding. You used to be cute and funny, now you're just vile and miserable. You have my pity, you miserable twit.

After mentioning that former CNN anchor Daryn Kagan used to date Limbaugh, Garofalo cracked that Kagan has Stockholm Syndrome, which she also attributed to RNC Chairman Michael Steele, with Olbermann agreeing that Steele suffers from "self-loathing":

JANEANE GAROFALO: She dated him, so either she suffers from Stockholm Syndrome – a lot like Michael Steele, who’s the black guy in the Republican party who suffers from Stockholm Syndrome, which means you try and curry favor with the oppressor.

KEITH OLBERMANN: Yes, you talk about self-loathing.

GAROFALO: Yeah, and there’s, any female or person of color in the Republican party is struggling with Stockholm Syndrome.

So charming. Note that the picture has her credited as a "political activist", as if running around spewing lies and insanity on friendly media outlets contributes anything to society. Pffft.

Friday, February 13, 2009

It's time for the annual Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue and while everyone's panting after the cover model, I just looked for and found this lovely lady. I spotted her in last year's issue and now she's today's Dirk's Dirk Du Jour. Enjoy!

It was a chance encounter in the charred landscape of Australia's deadly wildfires: A koala sips water from a bottle offered by a firefighter.

David Tree noticed the koala moving gingerly on scorched paws as his fire patrol passed. Clearly in pain, the animal stopped when it saw Tree.

"It was amazing, he turned around, sat on his bum and sort of looked at me with (a look) like, put me out of my misery," Tree told The Associated Press on Tuesday. "I yelled out for a bottle of water. I unscrewed the bottle, tipped it up on his lips and he just took it naturally.

"He kept reaching for the bottle, almost like a baby."

The team called animal welfare officers to pick up the koala Sunday, the day after deadly firestorms swept southern Victoria state.

"I love nature, and I've handled koalas before. They're not the friendliest things, but I wanted to help him," Tree said.

Often mistakenly called koala bears because they resemble a child's teddy bear, the marsupial is actually a rather grumpy creature with a loud growl. It rarely comes down from the trees and doesn't like walking.

Koalas are especially vulnerable to wildfires because they move slowly on the ground.

Koalas normally drink almost no water because they get almost all their fluids from the leaves they eat.

After the scorched koala sipped from the water bottle and Tree's crew moved on, animal welfare officials came by.

The koala was in pain but recovering with antibiotics, Jenny Shaw of the Mountain Ash Wildlife Shelter told Melbourne's The Herald Sun newspaper.

"She is lovely — very docile — and she has already got an admirer. A male koala keeps putting his arms around her," Shaw was quoted as saying. "It will be a long road to recovery, but she should be able to be released back into the wild in about five months."

All together now, "Awwwwwwwwwwwwww...

(I wonder how long before someone Photoshops a beer or something instead of the water?)

* Israel tells him to mind his own business as they go back to kicking the snot out of Gaza and refused to open the border as Obama asked. Now it looks like a right-wing government will win their elections.

* Russia bribes Kyrgyzstan with $3 billion, Kryg tells us to GTFO out the pivotal airbase we've been using since 2001.

* The EU, China and Japan and Canada all get righteously pissed off at the "Buy American" element of the stimulus plan, which he let La Magnaccia Pelosi write.

Wednesday, February 04, 2009

Just as Barry O'Bama stupidly said that 10,000 people died in a tornado while campaigning last year (actual death toll: 12), now we have Nancy Pelosi - who is only two heartbeats from the Presidency - stating that we lose 500 MILLION American jobs each month. Um, the population of the USA is about 300 million, Nan.

The comments on YouTube are cute: They must be in the other seven states!!!! and "If Palin had said this, it would be covered wall-to-wall." No kidding on the latter. I was watching some things over the weekend and the "Sarah Palin is such a dumb bitch with a retard kid" meme was spewed repeatedly.

This is the liberal Big Lie tactics in action, folks. Obama thinks there are 57 states and staffs his regime with criminals; Biden is a non-stop font of stupidity; Pelosi vomits this gaffe a week after saying that funding abortions and contraceptives is stimulative to the economy by removing all those costly babies from the balance sheets - why hasn't the Catholic Church excommunicated this loser? - and the woman who is the self-made Governor of the nation's largest state is smeared as an idiot? Yeah, right.

1. Imagine the joyous noises the Left would be making if Sarah Palin said something a fraction as stupid as this.

B. They said it was too risky to have someone like Moose-Slayer only a heartbeat from the presidency, but it’s OK to have San Fran Nan a mere TWO heartbeats away, especially when one is a secret smoker with a high stress job and the other is addicted to hair plugs and probably toxic teeth cleaning products?

3. In her defense, it is entirely possible for 500 million American jobs to be lost: count India and China as two of Barry’s 7 extra states.

My girlfriend consoled (correctly) that we should see how The One, the Obamessiah, the Lightworker, the Healer of the World, Lower of the Oceans and blah-blah-woof-woof actually does when he's on the job. Can't really complain about someone before they get to sit in the Big Chair, can we? Sure. Well, we've had two weeks of the Obama Regime and it's quite clear that it has been an...

EPIC FAIL!!!

Barry hasn't turned to corner from running (and running his mouth) to being a leader because, as those not hypnotized by the Treason Media's hype have always know, he's an empty suit who leveraged slick packaging, an undercurrent of racial terrorism (i.e. vote for Him or we'll call you RAAAAAAAAAAAACCIISSSSSTT!!!!), and the fact that the Stupid Party was utterly lost and bankrupt to get a gig he wasn't qualified for and didn't deserve.

The sheer amount of bald-faced criminality he has ushered in would be shocking if not for the fact that he's a typical Chicago politician. The only difference is that instead of being confined to Chicago, Cook County and Illinois, his antics are on a national and global stage and as a result, America is in trouble at the hands of a naif who bamboozled a frightened and ignorant public into believing that Dubya was the bad guy. (Not that Dubya did anything to dissuade the smears; his being a turn-the-other-cheek Christian chump and all.) Only the clueless - the largest part of Obambi's base - should've been surprised that he'd pack his administration with tax cheats, lobbyists, influence-peddlers, etc. I've always said that the only reason Dems complained about GOP corruption was because they wanted the graft for themselves and lookee-lookee; I was right. Again.

Some of us have been warning that it was not healthy for the U.S. media to have deified rather than questioned Obama, especially given that they tore apart Bush, ridiculed Palin, and caricatured Hillary. And now we can see the results of their two years of advocacy rather than scrutiny.

We are quite literally after two weeks teetering on an Obama implosion—and with no Dick Morris to bail him out—brought on by messianic delusions of grandeur, hubris, and a strange naivete that soaring rhetoric and a multiracial profile can add requisite cover to good old-fashioned Chicago politicking.

First, there were the sermons on ethics, belied by the appointments of tax dodgers, crass lobbyists, and wheeler-dealers like Richardson—with the relish of the Blago tapes still to come. (And why does Richardson/Daschle go, but not Geithner?).

Second, was the "stimulus" (the euphemism for "borrow/print money") that was simply a way to go into debt for a generation to shower Democratic constinuencies with cash.

Then third, there were the inflated lectures on historic foreign policy to be made by the clumsy political novice who trashed his own country and his predecessor in the most ungracious manner overseas to a censured Saudi-run press organ (e.g., Bush is dictatorial, the Saudi king is courageous; Obama can mend bridges that America broke to aggrieved Muslims (apparently Tehran hostages, Rushdie, serial attacks in the 1990s, 9/11, Madrid, London never apparently occurred, and neither did feeding Somalis, saving Kuwait, protesting Chechnya, Bosnia/Kosovo, billions to Egypt, Jordan, the Palestinians, help in two Afghan wars, and on and on).

Fourth, there was the campaign rhetoric of Bush shredding the Constitution—FISA, Guantanamo, Patriot Act, Iraq, renditions, etc.—followed by "all that for now stays the same" inasmuch as we haven't ben hit in over seven years and can't risk another attack.

Fifth, Gibbs as press secretary is a Scott McClellan nightmare that won't go away, given his long McClellan-like relationship with Obama (McClellan should have been fired on day hour one on the job). Blaming Fox News for Obama's calamities is McClellan to the core and doesn't work. He already reminds me of Rev. Wright's undoing at the National Press Club—and he will get worse.

Six, Biden is being Biden. Already, he's ridiculed the chief justice, trashed the former VP, bragged on himself ad nauseam in Bidenesque weird ways, and it's only been two weeks.

And the result of all this?

At home, Obama is becoming laughable and laying the groundwork for the greatest conservative populist reaction since the Reagan Revolution.

Abroad, some really creepy people are lining up to test Obama's world view of "Bush did it/but I am the world": The North Koreans are readying their missiles; the Iranians are calling us passive, bragging on nukes and satellites; Russia is declaring missile defense is over and the Euros in real need of iffy Russian gas; Pakistanis say no more drone attacks (and then our friends the Indians say "shut up" about Kashmir and the Euros order no more 'buy American").

This is quite serious. I can't recall a similarly disastrous start in a half-century (far worse than Bill Clinton's initial slips). Obama immediately must lower the hope-and-change rhetoric, ignore Reid/Pelosi, drop the therapy, and accept the tragic view that the world abroad is not misunderstood but quite dangerous. And he must listen on foreign policy to his National Security Advisor, Billary, and Sec. of Defense. If he doesn't quit the messianic style and perpetual campaign mode, and begin humbly governing, then he will devolve into Carterism—angry that the once-fawning press betrayed him while we the people, due to our American malaise, are to blame.

Not included on VDH's litany is the non-response of FEMA to the ice storms in Kentucky. Where is someone crying out, "Barack Obama doesn't care about white people." on a telethon? Where are the news anchors flying in to condemn the lack of Federal response? [crickets]

Tax cheats, lobbyists, double-standards, massive pork, a bitch boy for Pelosi-Reid, pissing off our allies and emboldening our enemies - all this in ONLY TWO WEEKS! You're doing a heck of a job there, Barry!